When I was in the fourth grade, my parents got a complaint from my teacher about the fact that I couldn’t make any friends because I was being too competitive when playing math games, SPARKLE and Around the World. If I really think about it, I’m still that way–Monopoly turns me into a relentless property owner, Scattegories is my game (I don’t think I’ve lost a game yet) and I totally rock at Life, especially the electronic version. Don’t even get me started on how competitive I am in card games–if you play Spoons with me you might end up being sent to the hospital.

In my opinion, playing board games is becoming a lost art. It’s becoming an activity reserved for preschoolers and people in nursing homes. This should not be the case. People of all ages should play board games on a regular basis.

Sitting around and yelling at each other is not childish, nor is it something that only old people can do because of their poor hearing. Sitting around and yelling each other in a fiery passion built up from tensions of ripping each other off in a game of Monopoly is perfectly acceptable, and I consider that to be the perfect evening.

The last time I hung out with my friends back at home over Christmas break, we sat around playing Monopoly until two in the morning. My friend, Lexa, ended up being around $10,000 (of Monopoly currency) in debt because I took advantage of hotels on my property. It was spectacular; she even threw a pillow at me.

The next night I asked her if she was up for a game. She gave me a death glare and said we needed to play a game I’ve never played before, so we decided to play Disney Trivia (which is actually a game that I own; I’ve just never had the interest in playing). Here I found out that I’m luckily not a sore loser, which can be brought to question based on the game, and that playing board games and even losing in those games is a great way to learn how to be a good player and deal with what’s been given to you. Even though I’ve learned that valuable lesson throughout my years playing board games and that disastrous game (and I’m definitely glad that I learned that lesson), I dread playing Disney Trivia–I refuse to play it if at all possible. Don’t play it unless you know absolutely everything about Disney, even the miniscule details.

I can’t stress enough how wonderful board games are though. Whenever my sister comes home for a holiday she always brings along a new game to learn. Whether it be Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride or any other somewhat obscure new game to the market, it’s always a great time. We spend time as a family interacting, fighting and occasionally cursing each other out, but be that as it may, we’re communicating and having fun with each other while everyone is together, which is different from when the guys are falling asleep in the living room watching golf and the women are cooking whatever meal is next in the kitchen.

Board games aren’t just for entertainment, they’re character building instruments and activities to bring families together. I can’t think of anything better to do than sit around yelling at the most important people in my life and playing a board game.